Unfortunately we live at a time in which it is incredibly common for parents to be separated from their children because the parents are members of the military and deployed overseas. What with the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, there are a number of people from Raleigh who may not see their families for some time because of their deployment. With all that service members must give up, there should be laws that protect them should any family law issues arise during their deployment, right?There are, but these rules are not always (correctly or uniformly) applied, and it sometimes makes life difficult for active service members. Take, for example, the story of an out-of-state man who was on deployment on a submarine who almost lost custody of his daughter for failing to show up for a custody modification hearing. The judge eventually postponed the hearing until after the father returns. There have been other stories that many people in Raleigh may find shocking. One army lieutenant … [Read more...]